Tennessee Credit Union First for PSCU EMV Test

ORNL Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will be the first financial institution to conduct an EMV transaction on MasterCard’s Maestro network with PSCU, the payment processing CUSO announced.

The 160,000-member, $1.5 billion institution began deploying the technology to read the cards, which rely on an embedded chip for authentication, in September. First Data, the Atlanta-based card processing giant, was certified last week by MasterCard to process Maestro EMV transactions.

“First Data has supported EMV processing for more than a decade,” said Tom Gandre, chief operating officer for PSCU. “We’re confident in First Data’s EMV expertise and ability to deliver a successful execution for its ATM clients, and delighted to be among the first in the U.S. payments industry to launch this capability.”

Initially, the privately held payments network said it will support NCR and Diebold ATMs, with additional hardware manufacturers to follow.

“This certification is the latest addition to our comprehensive, end-to-end EMV support, enabling the standard for our financial institution clients,” said Nick Barnes, senior vice president, product development, for First Data. “The transition to EMV at the ATM is a crucial step forward for security in the U.S.”

Globally, First Data said it has been an approved EMV transaction processor since 1999. Domestically, the company said it has also successfully personalized and fulfilled a number of issuers’ EMV chip card portfolios since the move to EMV in the U.S. began.